UK online fashion retailer Asos has apparently fallen victim to a cyberattack. According to consistent reports, thousands of users saw a cryptic message titled "Asos hacked" on their smartphones. In the afternoon, the company confirmed an "unauthorized customer notification."
According to the company's statement, basic personal information such as names and contact details may have been accessed. Asos says it doesn't believe payment card information or account passwords were affected. There are currently no disruptions to operations. The company says it is investigating unauthorized activity on third-party platforms it uses to communicate with customers.
A message with an extortion attempt
According to the UK news agency PA, the displayed text said roughly that Asos's Snowflake instance had been fully compromised, that the people responsible for data protection and IT should get in touch, and that the attackers would otherwise publish the data. Snowflake is a platform where companies store, combine, and analyze large volumes of data.
The market reacted quickly: Asos shares dropped by more than ten percent on Tuesday morning. The retailer's website initially appeared unaffected. Asos also owns brands such as Topshop and Miss Selfridge, and according to PA it has 17 million customers worldwide. How the attackers actually got to the data and how many records are affected is still unclear.